Southern California -- this just in

The Game apologizes for a 'joke gone wrong'

Rapper The Game said Wednesday that he was sorry for a message from his Twitter account that jammed calls for hours at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Compton station.

The post Friday encouraged his 580,000 followers to telephone if they wanted an internship. The tweet gave no indication that the phone number was the Compton station's official help line.

"My sincerest apologies to the Sheriff's Department, and it was a joke gone wrong," The Game, whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, told CNN. "If anybody wants to take it further than that, I guess they have to do what they have to do.

"Like I said, again, I never intended for anybody to take it the wrong way or for it to go this far, and just, you know, I think it's all nonsense. If my apology is not enough, I don't understand what else can be done."

Sheriff's officials announced after the apology that it was dropping its criminal investigation of the incident. Capt. Mike Parker said in an interview that the decision to end the probe came after officials concluded there was not enough evidence to move forward.

"I have been consistent in saying we were going to gather all the evidence pertinent to this case and to present it to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office for consideration of a criminal filing," Parker said. "In the end, based upon the facts known to us at this time, we are not seeking criminal charges. However, if new facts were to come to light, it could change our stance."